Soap holder and distributer



(No Mode-1.)

H. F. STOWELL. SOAP HOLDER AND DISTRIBUTER. No. 448,275. Patented Mar. 17, 1891.

Fi 1 Q m I U a t F; o \0/ if I- 'T 5' an H g I llVI/E/VTOH ATTORNEY.

, NITED STATES PATENT Prion.

HENRY F. STOXVELL, OF ROCHESTER, NEYV YORK.

SOAP. HOLDER AND DISTRIBUTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 448,27 5, dated March 17, 1891.

Application filed November 11, 1890. Serial No. 371,025. (No model.)

To an whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY F. STOWELL, a resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Soap Holders and Distributors and I do hereby deelare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

l-Ieretofore soap holders have been employed which were adapted to discharge the in g mechanism.

powdered soap or other material in small quantities. Difficultyhas been experienced in regulating and making constant the amount discharged at each operation of the discharg- In some cases the powdered material will become packed and arched over the exit in such manner as to seriously interfere with its proper delivery. A movable stirring device attached to a Valve-stem has proved one of the best remedies for this defeet. In such construction, however, it is dit ficult to prevent the packing of such a substance as soap around the spring-wire or other stirring device.

It is the object of the present improvement to provide a construction that will discharge its contents with certainty and in measured quantity; and the invention consists in the construction hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the improved holder. Fig. 2 is a top plan of the discharging mechanism. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan of the same. Fig. 4 is a bottom view of .a modification; and Fig. 5, a vertical section of the same.

The body of: the holder is denoted by the letter B.

G and II are covers snugly fitting the same at e and e, respectively.

0 indicates an opening in the lower cover.

0 denotes a bracket to be secured to a wall or support by means of screws 3 s, and o is a socket receiving astud or post attached to the bracket.

I is a hopper secured in the cylinder and fitting it at top, but contracted toward the bottom at an angle of about forty-five degrees. If theinclination of the hopper-wall be much less than this, the powdered soap will not flow down it readily, and if it be decidedly greater the soap is very liable to choke up or bridge over the outlet. The body of the hopper at its bottom is prolonged into a short cylinder 1), provided with a lateral slot 0. i

A denotes abox-like sliding valve of special construction, consisting of a bottom having a discharge-opening P, a top q, provided with a cut-,oit n and having an end piece or stop m, and having oppositely placed another end piece connecting the top and bottom and provided with a stop on. This plate 12 has a rectangular part and a semicircular part, as shown the latter being adapted to enter the lateral slot in the box Z1 and the former to bear on the guide strips or bars 9 g, arranged at its sides. The plate n is of such dimension and the stop an so arranged that said plate never quite leaves the lower lip of the slot. tered therein. The cut-off and valve A are held in proper horizontal plane by the pushrod by the bearing of cut-off plate 72 upon the lip of slot 0 and by the rod 0, to be described.

t is the handle of an operating-rod attached to the sliding cut-oft valve. This handle is preferably placed opposite the bracket, as shown, so that in use the device will be solidly supported laterally against pressure on the rod, this construction being decidedly superior to a Vertically-arranged valve combined with a lateral bracket, which unless made very heavy would be liable to be bent or loosened by constantly-repeated pressure or blows on the valve-stem at right angles to such bracket.

c is a rod rigidly fixed, preferably, both to the cylinder B and to cylindrical hopper extension or box b,but passing freely through an opening in the end m of the valveA. Around this rod is a coiled spring normally not under tension. I

The operation of the device is as follows: The cylinder having been charged with powdered soap or the like and the parts being in the position indicated by full lines, the soap falls freely into the shallow box I) and upon the bottom of A. By pushing the bottom and rod to the position denoted by dotted lines the cut-off plate at is carried into the slot 0 and lies across the top of box I) at the It is therefore always ready to be enthe foot of the inclined wall of the hopper, the bottom plate being at the same time moved so that the opening P is immediately under the box or receptacle 1), whereby the contents 5 of the latter are freely discharged from the box and out through the opening 0. The above operation by the action of the stop m upon the coiled spring puts it under tension sufficient to return the valve and cut-off as soon as the handle or button if is relieved, at which time soap falls from the hopper into the receptacle 1), ready for another discharge. It will be noted that the discharge of material is much more free than in those devices I 5 where the discharge-box is mainly occupied by a vertically-movable valve, which also occupies space in the cylinder and tends to crowd and pack its contents. By the present improvement the discharge-box can be convenient-ly made of greater horizontal diameter and shallowerthan if largely occupied with valve mechanism, and it consequently operates with more certainty under all conditions.

It may further be observed that the closing ot the box I) at the bottom is automatic, and

that suitable stops are provided to determine the length of movement of the valve and cut-off.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4: the

valve cut-off slides on a plate D, having upturned flanges, which serve as lateral guides for the valve. It has an opening beneath the box I).

Sis a flat spring secured to valve A and 3 5 bearing against the cylinder-wall. \Vhen soap is discharged, this spring is compressed, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5. The plate D is preferably soldered to the cylinder B and to box 1), but may be secured in any convenient way.

Other mechanical changes may be made without departing from the improvement if the principles of construction and operation remain substantially the same.

The advantages of soap-holders of this class generally are greater economy in the use of soap and greater cleanliness, as no soap, Wet or soiled by the hands or otherwise, is returned to theholder. The advantages of my improvewent are simplicity of construction and certainty of action.

I am aware that a kitchen-cabinet has been provided with a hopper having a downwardly-projecting spout and wit-l1 two slides so constructed and arranged that the top and bottom of the spout can be alternately covered and uncovered, and also that a sliding valve has been automatically closed by a spring in a shot-measuring device, and such constructions are not of my invention.

' It may be noted that in my improvement the lower end of the spout or discharge-box b is separated entirely from the ways that support and guide the lower valve, these be- 6 5 ing located away from the spout, and no lodging place for soap is afforded, as would be the case were the spout connected to the ways. To provide, also, that soap which may temporarily rest in the slot that receives the upper valve shall be certainly pushed out and not become packed therein, I make the valve semi-cylindrical at its forward end and extend its rear end laterally, so as to be supported in ways which are similarly removed from the spout. Soap arrested by the wall of the slot will when pushed by the valve fall clear of the spout and of the valve-supporting ways. It may also be noted that the rod 0 serves as a brace to support the spout, and

that the stop m also serves as a spring-compressing device, and that the spring is adapted to be compressedin the direction of the bracket and its support.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The soap-holder consisting of the main body or receptacle having an opening in the bottom, a hopper secured in such receptacle between its ends, a laterally-slotted dischargebox fixed to the bottom of the hopper-body, a cut-off adapted to enter the lateral slot in the box a plate normally closing the bottom of the box provided with a discharge-opening and adapted to be moved to bring the open ing under the box, a push-rod connected to such cut-01f and also to the plate, a stop on said plate, a rod connecting the dischargebox and the wall of the receptacle and passing through said stop, and a'spring surrounding the rod and located between said wall and stop, substantially as set forth.

2. The soap-holder consisting of the main body or receptacle having an opening in the bottom, a hopper secured in such receptacle between its ends, a laterally-slotted dischargebox fixed to the bottom of the hopper-body, a cut-off adapted to enter the lateral slot in the box, a plate normally closing the bottom of the box, provided with a discharge-opening and adapted to be moved to bring the opening under the box, a stop on said plate, a push-rod connected to such cut-off and also to the plate, and a spring arranged between the wall of the receptacle and the stop for automatically closing the bottom of the discharge-box, substantially as set forth.

The soap-holder consisting of the main body or receptacle having an opening in the bottom, a hopper secured in such receptacle between its ends, a laterally-slotted dischargebox fixed to the bottom of the hopper-body, a cut-off adapted to enter the lateral slot of the box, a plate normally closing the bottom of the box, provided with a discharge-opening and adapted to be moved to bring the opening under the box, a stop on said plate, a pushrod connected to such cut-oft and also to the plate, and a spring arranged between the wall of the. receptacle and the stop for automatically closing the bottom of the discharge-box, and a bracket-stud-receiving socket, said socket, spring, stop, and push-rod being arranged in the samehorizontal plane, substantially as set forth.

IIH

4:. In combinatiointhe main receptacle provided with an interior hopper having attached to its bottom a discharge-box provided with a lateral slot near its top, a sliding cut-off and Valve consisting of the upper plate having a rectangular part and a semi-cylindrical part resting in said lateral slot, and a lower plate rigidly connected to said first-named plate, having an opening under the rectangular part of said plate and extended beyond its semicylindrical portion to close the bottom of the dischargebox when said box is open at the top, and devices for moving the upper plate into the slot, and the opening in the lower plate under the box, and ways for the plates located at a distance laterally from the discharge-box, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY F. STOWEL'L.

Vitnesses:

JOHN M. MURPHY,

GEO. II. IIUMPHREY. 

